Installing complex software systems can be a lengthy and frustrating process even for experienced information technology professionals. Some complex software systems may operate on multiple hardware or software platforms to deliver multiple applications in a single solution.
For example, a business enterprise may use multiple applications to manage the business and provide computing services to employees and customers. The applications may include email applications, malware detection services, file services, as well as underlying services such as authentication, network management, device management, and other services. The ‘solution’ in this example may be many of the applications, services, and other components that enable the business to function effectively.
In many businesses, the computer infrastructure may include multiple devices that deliver portions of the overall solution. Multiple devices may be used for redundancy as well as load balancing or separation. Redundancy may be useful for some devices that provide widely used services, such as authentication services, where even a short outage may cause unwanted delays. Load balancing or load separation may be useful when one application or service may consume much of the processing or other bandwidth of a single device, so that having different servers with different applications may not overload one or more servers.